Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Mr. Miller here was not what you'd call a raving fan of Mr. Johnny Paycheck. Sure, "Take This Job and Shove It" was a perfectly pitched anthem for the pissed-off working man in the 1970s (I wasn't exactly a working man in those days, just an average teen washing dishes and stuff like that -- but the angst wasn't lost on me). And i couldn't help but appreciate the "outlaw" antics, his surly wit and overall drunken persona.

The thing is, I never felt the need to dig into his discography to have a listen at much more than what I'd already heard -- that was until after he blew off a free outdoor concert with BR549 because he was too shitfaced to crawl outa bed. Mr. Miller and his buddies all thought that he was worth a listen to after that stunt.

Here's Mr. Paycheck's first LP The Lovin' Machine (1966). It was the age of theNashville sound, and a jokester like Paycheck would seem an ill fit. But the rebel rouser had a proven background in Country music, having played back-up for other stars and penning a hit for George Jones. On this first album you'll hear the crass wit behind "Take This Job..." (even though that was written by David Allen Coe), but surprising is his turn as country crooner, trying to belt out the ballads in a George Jones drawl.

Here's a copy of The Lovin' Machine that's been tooling around online (I'd love to give credit to the original poster of it, but it's been around the bend a few times, and that info is unavailable).